I'm sorry :( my bike was stolen in high school a week before my family moved out of the area (they had been responsible for it and hadn't been locking it up at the bike racks because "it's been fine so far"! Learned that lesson...) I was so mad. So mad.
Re: bike recoveries: My bf had his bike stolen maybe a year and a half ago...out of the laundry room of his apartment building, which was accessible to residents only, all of whom he knew! He got it back when the thief tried to sell it to a local bike shop, where my bf had just gotten his bike tuned! Fortunately the staff recognized it and offered the thief a choice of leaving the bike or talking to the police.
Re: locking up bikes. I'm sure you didn't do this, but I see it around my campus all the time. People take their nice u-lock and lock up their bike...to these janky little temporary fences they put up to protect newly-planted grass. It's literally rope wrapped around these temporary 3-ft posts. You can take the rope off, lift the bike off, and put the rope back on in like a minute. I have no idea why someone would give away their bike that way! What you lock up TO matters as much as what you lock up WITH!
http://lockyourbike.wordpress.com/